Here you have the second lesson. Sorry it took so long. I tried to cut and paste a picture of the Circle of fifths/fourths but it did not work. You can easily find one on the net. Enjoy!!! ;D
Lesson 2
On our previous lesson we learned quite a few things. We learned about music systems, that we only have twelve tones, how to construct a major scale and what kinds of chords are contained therein. On this lesson we will take things a little bit further and we will learn how to construct major scales on all twelve tones. We will also cover the Circle of Fifths/Fourths.
We have already determined that the simplest scale is the C Major scale, because it has no accidentals. The C Major scale only covers a fraction of the tones found on the guitar. So, what about the rest of the tones? Will we get to use them? Sure. It is just a matter of what Tonality you choose to play in. Remember, scales have only seven tones. There are several pitches (highness or lowness) to every tone, depending on the range of the instrument, but we only work with seven tones at the time, at least for now. Before we get any further, let’s see if we can construct a major scale on a different tone. For this I have chosen G as our new tone. With G as our new tonal center, we will now construct The G Major scale.
Do you remember the first lesson? Do you remember the pattern to make a major scale? It was whole step – whole step – half step – whole step – whole step - whole step – half step. Notice that the half steps occur between the third and fourth tones, and between the seventh and eighth tones. Make sure you memorize this, because this will never change. In the C Major scale they happen between E and F and between B and C. Will this change if we start on a different pitch? Yes and no. The tones within the scale will, but not the place of the half steps. These will always fall between the third and fourth tones and between the seventh and eighth tone. Let’s do a little experiment. For illustration purposes, let’s use the low G found on the sixth string, on the third fret. If we were to follow the whole step/half step pattern to construct a Major scale, our one string diagram would look like this:
-----3-----5-----7-----8-----10-----12-----14-----15-----
G A B C D E F# G
Or with a different fingering:
-------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------4-----5-------------
-----------------------3-----5-----7-----------------------
------3-----5-----7----------------------------------------
G A B C D E F# G
Yes, that is correct. There is an F # in there. You have to alter the F to keep the pattern. If you don’t do that, then it would not be the G Major scale. Remember that the half steps fall between the third and fourth tones and between the seventh and eight tones. From B to C it’s a half step; we don’t have to do anything there. From F to G it’s a whole step. The problem is that we need a half step there. To keep the pattern we raise F up one fret to F # and stay within our new tonal center, which is now G. So F # becomes our first Accidental. Accidentals are used to keep the Major scale pattern. In the C Major scale all of the tones are Natural.
I don’t know if you have noticed, but G is the fifth tone in the C scale. Hmm… Let’s try something else. Let’s go to D, which is the fifth tone in the G scale, and try the same thing there. This time we will use the D found on the fifth string, fifth fret.
-----5-----7-----9-----10-----12-----14-----16-----17---
D E F# G A B C# D
Or:
------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------6-----7---------------
------------------------5-----7-----9---------------------------
-----5-----7-----9---------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
D E F# G A B C# D
That’s right. We had to alter the seventh tone again. Now we have a C #. The F # is a carry over from the previous scale. You have just discovered how the Circle of Fifths works. The Circle of fifths is a nifty little device used in music to give us a sense of organization. In the Circle of Fifths every thing happens every five tones. We start out with C. To get the next scale, we move up to the fifth tone, to G, and sharpen the seventh tone to keep the whole step/half step pattern. We then move up to the fifth tone, starting with G, all the way up to D and do the same thing. For this system to work we not only need to move up in fifths, but we also need keep all of the accidentals we have added every time you move up. So we add sharps one fifth up from the previous one. If you examine the D scale you will notice that C # is a fifth from F # .
Having Fun? Good! Go to the fifth tone on the D scale. What do you get? That’s right, A. And what will your next accidental be? Did you say G #? Man, you’re good! Let’s look at it on the sixth string:
-----5-----7-----9-----10-----12-----14-----16-----17-----
A B C# D E F# G# A
Or:
----------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------6-----9-------------
------------------------5-----7-----9--------------------------
-----5-----7-----9---------------------------------------------
A B C# D E F# G# A
This is what the circle of fifths looks like:
img.thefreedictionary.com/wiki/c/ce/Fifths.pngThe letter on the outside of the circle determines the scale’s position according to how many sharps or flats it has. This is the Tonic. The number on the inside tells you how many sharps or flats each scale has. You can follow this pattern until you get to F #. I prefer to stop there for the sharp keys. For the flat keys what I do is to go back to C and move counterclockwise and turn this into the Circle of Fourths. Now you go to the fourth tone in the C scale (F) and start working from there. You will move in fourths, and your next flat will be a fourth from the last. Is this confusing you? It shouldn’t. Lets try this on written form:
The C Scale is C D E F G A B C. Go to F, the fourth tone in the scale, and build a Major scale there. You should come up with F G A Bb C D E F (remember to keep the half steps where they belong). This is the F Major Scale. If you go to the fourth tone of the F Major scale (Bb) and do the Major scale pattern there you will come up with Bb C D Eb F G A Bb. Eb is a fourth from Bb. This keeps on going until you get to the Key of Db. Cool, eh?
You have probably noticed that there are two keys in the circle that have more than one name. F# (Gb) and Db (C#). Now is a good time to introduce a new word into our musical lexicon. Enharmonic.
Enharmonic is a word that is used to describe tones that sound the same but that have different names. This applies to keys as well, although there are only two scales that have enharmonic equivalents. For individual tones, you will find that Db and C# are the exact same note. They are enharmonic. Whether you use a Db or a C# depends on the note you are using as a root. You have to go up alphabetically from the tonic. If your starting note is A, then you have A B C# D E F# G# A. You can’t have A B Db D E Gb Ab A because this is not in alphabetical order, even if to our ears these sound exactly alike. The thing to remember here is that you need to keep the alphabetical sequence.
So there you have it. I imagine that you are either diggin’ it or are totally confused. If the latter is true for you, feel free to ask as many questions as you would like. We are in this for the long run, so make sure you know this material.
Your homework is to construct all twelve major keys and to find what chords go with each. You will have to refer to the first lesson to get this information.
On our next lesson we will cover the minor scale (all three of them), how they relate to the major scale, and what chords are included with them.